More Than Avoidance

The Indiana Supreme Court suspended an attorney without automatic reinstatement

We find that Respondent, Joseph Patrick Hudspeth, engaged in attorney misconduct by neglecting clients’ cases, making dishonest statements to current and prospective clients, and failing to timely respond to the Commission’s demand for information. For this misconduct, we conclude that Respondent should be suspended for at least eighteen months without automatic reinstatement.

There were two client complaints, failure to respond and

Two websites maintained by Respondent falsely represented his experience, specialization, and other aspects of his legal practice. More specifically, Respondent falsely claimed that “he had 35 years of experience in the [social security] industry,” falsely used the plural “attorneys” to describe the members of his firm even though Respondent was a solo practitioner, and falsely claimed to be a specialist in areas of the law in which he held no certification of specialty (and, in most instances, had little or no experience).

Sanction

we cannot subscribe to Respondent’s reductive characterization of his misconduct as “avoidance.” (Pet. for Review of Sanctions at 10). This argument simply fails to account for Respondent’s affirmative, willful, and repeated acts of dishonesty to his clients and to the public.

The parties’ respective positions on sanction differ largely on the question of whether Respondent should be suspended with or without automatic reinstatement. Respondent’s pattern of dishonesty, which Respondent employed largely to mask his own professional shortcomings, compels us to conclude that a significant period of suspension is warranted and that Respondent must be required to undergo the reinstatement process before resuming the practice of law.